Larry Anderson turned 62 today.

The Phillies have been blessed to have two pairs of outstanding broadcast teams in their booth over the past thirty years or so. First, there was Harry and Whitey and now there’s Franzke and L.A.

My only negative comment on the latter pairing is that I sometimes flip on the ball game expecting to hear their voices but wind up getting stuck with the annoying voice of Jim Jackson.

Correction – here’s a second negative comment – this one directed at the programming department at WIP. Your lineup for Phillies games is enervating. First comes “Leading Off” with whatever host got stuck doing it that day – and you can tell by the voice that it’s a chore. Then comes the aforementioned annoying Jim Jackson blowing the obligatory smoke up your butt. Finally a break with Franzke and L.A. doing an intro. Then comes the game – enough said about that.

After the game, same thing in reverse. Franzke and L.A. doing a quick wrap up, the annoying Jim Jackson, and over-kill with “Final Out.” When Jody McDonald or Rickie Ricardo do “Final Out” it’s tolerable because they’re baseball men and enjoy the game of baseball.

Add it up. That’s often five hours, or more, of torture.

Dump “Leading Off,” Jim Jackson, and “Final Out” and listening to the Phillies game would be much more enjoyable.

Now, back to Larry Anderson’s birthday wishes.

If you wonder why he’s such a down-to-earth guy, let’s take a quick look at his baseball Odyssey – but not in chorological order. To begin with, the Cleveland Indians drafted Larry Anderson in the seventh round of the MLB amateur draft in 1971. He then spent parts of 15 seasons – 399 games – in the minor leagues.

He was packing and unpacking suitcase and staying in cheap motels with the Gulf Coast League Indians, Reno Silver Sox in the California League, San Antonio Brewers in the Texas League, Oklahoma City 89ers in the American Association, Williamsport Tomahawks in the Eastern League, Toledo Mud Hens in the International League, Portland Beavers in the Pacific Coast League, Tacoma Tugs in the Pacific Coast League, Salt Lake City Gulls in the Pacific Coast League, High Desert Mavericks in the California League, Reading Phillies in the Eastern League, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in the International League.

Talk about character building.

Now let’s look at Larry Anderson’s trek through the big leagues – again not in chronological order.

The Cleveland Indians drafted Larry Anderson in the seventh round of the MLB amateur draft in 1971, He broke into the majors with the Indians in 1975, was traded to Pirates in 1979, traded to Seattle Mariners in 1980, purchased from the Mariners by the Phillies on July 29, 1983, released by the Phils in 1986 and signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros, traded to the Red Sox in 1990, signed as a free agent with the Padres for 1991 season, signed by Phillies as free agent in 1992, and released by the Phillies in 1994.

Those travels encompassed parts of 17 seasons – and 699 games.

His claims to fame are these two:

• In 1990, he was traded from the Astros to the Red Sox for hot-shot minor league prospect Jeff Bagwell – even-up. Bagwell went on to become a four-time NL All-Star and league MVP in 1994.

• He’s the only player in the history of the Phillies franchise to appear in both the 1983 and 1993 World Series. He was a member of the teams that lost in 1983 to the Baltimore Orioles and in 1993 to the Toronto Blue Jays.

That’s one helluva career.

Happy birthday, Larry Anderson.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild, 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant, and 12 Best Eagles QBs.